St. Paul daily globe., 1887-08-22
LADIES' PHILOSOPHER.
How CarO's Metaphysics Charmed
The Partisan Butterflies.
Some nf His Followers WhO1Were
Called "CarOlinas."

Caro-, the ladies' philosopher. is dead.
For forty years Elme Caro- had been
professor of philosophy, and during
J twenty years his lectures were de-
livered at the Sorbonne. His adver-
Saries were always allowed the liberty
of discussion, and no opponent could
be more courteous than Caro-. None
better than he knew how to mingle
/ with the refutation of a metaphysical
hypothesis the analysis of new
novel. Reaching the point where his
/ adverSarieS' error must be exposed,
where the superiority of his own sOlu
tions must become apparent, Caro-
T seemed to forget the strength of his az
gumentS, and always summed up the
/ whole with phases that at least were
I very vague. Consequently every sub
| Ject that he treated was envelOped in
mystery, and because of that women
were attracted to him, first mentally,
then personally. His followers were
called the ''Carolinas," and at very
7 early hour ON the mornings OF CarO'S
conversaziOnes the lecture room of the
| SOrbonne was thronged with grandes
danes of all nationalities.
One of CarO'S most devoted followers
| was Countess ZamOySka, daughter of
Marechal Pelissier, Duke of Malakoff.
| But she is also sincere Catholic, and,
| although Caro- was vague deiSt, he
never openly cOntradicted the doctrines
of the church. Long before her mar
| riage Louise de Mainkoff was under the
| influence of philosophers who belonged
to CarO's school. Her conduct was con-
sidered too much like that of an Ameri-
can, for she had friends other than those
| selected by her mother and occupied
| herself with abtruSe studies. When
I1mnycEa vi in
| gold and royal alliances, sought her
hand. she promised to become Countess
| ZamOyska. But she confessed to her
| fiance that she believed even more pro-
| foundly in Plato than in SchOpenhauer,
| and he seized the occasion to break the
| engagement. Philosophy was not to
| completely govern Louise de MalakOff; !;
| in her mind ambition was its rival, and
the daughter of French Merechal de-
| cided to marry this scion of noble
| house, and not only to marry him, but
to bring him over to her own views on
the extinction of the human race. In
May, 1881, they were married, and not
very long ago Countess ZamOyska asked
the pope to annul her marriage and the
civil tribunal to grant her divorce.
Her principal reason is that her huS-
band is jealous of her philosophers and
her philosophy. Now the poor little
countess has lost her adviser and friend,
for Caro- is dead.
In a magnificent palace, Avenue Fried
land. lives another "Carolina," Count
ess POtocki. nee Princess Pignatelli.
Every Sunday she gives a breakfast
called the ''Maccabees." At her table
are always seen representatives OF the
artistic and literary world, but her
favOrite was philosopher, and Caro- is
- hot dow
after breakfast the philosopher spent an
hour in the wonderful stables of Count
Potocki. These stables are worthy of a
visit, for the stalls and boxes are of ma
hOgany, ornamented with the POtOcki
arms made of brass. The managers are
of pink marble, and above each horse is
plaque bearing the name, pedigree
and date of birth. Behind the horse are
marble panels, with basins, in which
water runs during the repasts of the
animals. Afterwards these basins are
ornamented with flowers. Eight boxes
are in the stable proper, and in the Gel
lar are thirty more. The bathroom for
the horses has vapOr baths, cold dOucheS,
hot dOuches, etc. The saddle-room is
finished in mahogany and Ornamented
with engravings. At night, when the
gas Is lighted, it presents brilliant
sight, with its saddles and brides, whips,
etc. sThe carriage houses are in the
second story and the carriages are taken
up in an elevator. Fifty men are EN-
played in these stables, and two dOrmi-
tories are reserved for the first Outrider
and his SubOrdinateS, who in their turn
have servants to wait upon them. The
house itself is in Louis XIV. style, with
a grand staircase like that at Versailles.
The ''feStal hall'' is not yet finished, but
fbn Hrax in I,0
most magnificent manner.
Carolina" as the countess is, or was,
her extravaganza is prOverbial. Some
thing new is bought each day, and the
cost is never counted. Sometimes she
has several hundred dresses in her
wardrobe, but her passion is for pearls
and costly furs. The philosopher
deigned to suggest costume for each
one of his followers, and his favOrite
toilet for Nine. POtocki was ''sealskin
cloak, with note claire in the hat"
The fur cloak worn by the countess to
the SOrbOnne lectures cost $4,000.
Another Carolina" was Princess de
BrancOvan, daughter of MusuruS PaSha,
the diplomat who, as ambassador of the
sultan, was for so long time dean of
the diplomatic corps in London. Prince
de BrancOvan, who died last year, was
the son of the last HospOcar or reigning
Prince of Wallachia. The Paris home
of the BrancOvanS became "HOtel
Rambouillet," and their weekly break
fast was called "ConcOrdia." There,
also, Caro- was the divinity and he was
surrounded by Octave Feuillet, Baron
de Saint Amand, Prince de POlignac
Massanet, Count d'HaussOnyille, etc.
This modern Hotel RambOuillet is
now for sale, but year ago it was filled
n1A mo
Venetian mirrors, etc. Some of the
rooms reminded one of harem, because
of their gliding, low divanS, embroidered
cushions and strong perfumes. In the
center of the state drawing-rOOm, under
an immense palm tree, was a grand
piano draped with Turkish embrOider-
les. AS pianist the princess has no
superior, but her talent, which was the
delight and pride of her husband, is
now neglected. In this drawing-rOom
is an immense bow window arranged as
a conservatory; panel of the room
was devoted to marvellous tapestry of
the eighteenth century--'TOilettes de
Venus" after Boucher. Between
two sofas covered with silken embrOi-
deries, Cupids carved from Venetian
wood hold alOft branch of lights, and
from the center of the ceiling colossal
crystal chandelier darted its rays into
the immense mirrors that encircle this
drawing-roOm. The gallery of hOspo-
dars is connected with this salon. Here
slept in their frames all the ancestors of
Prince de BrancOvan. Long and mar
row, the high ceiling of this gallery dis
appears under paintings to which the
Renaissance lent its colOring. On all
sides were carved Oaken stalls brought
from Wallachia by the prince. Above
/, the stalls was a row of famous warriors
who have reigned over Wallachia and
Roumania, and sometimes wOman's
face cast a brighter shade over the ter
rible hospOdars.